Highschool And The Hellmouth...again.

Dopplegangland, Enemies, Earshot

These three episodes are some of the last to embody the “high school as hell’ metaphor. Buffy and the Scoobies are nearing graduation, and the writers seem determined to play the metaphor out in as many ways as possible. All of the characters have their problems, no matter how epic or supernatural, in some way reflected in the mundane trials of Sunnydale High.

Dopplegangland opens with Anya engaging in the favorite extracurricular activity of Sunnydale students- communing with the dark forces. A former vengeance demon trapped as a human, Anya lists a stream of demonic concerns, before adding “And I’m flunking math.” I think she echoes the position of many a high school senior, ready and willing to try out their ‘power’ in the world, but still stuck counting down the days until graduation.

The episode’s focus quickly shifts to Willow, and her eternal struggle for naughtiness. After feeling taken advantage of and marginalized because of her shy nature, Willow accidently conjures her vampiric alter ego, last seen in The Wish. Like Willow’s Halloween ghost, Vampire-Willow is unlimited in every way Willow could imagine. We see Vampire-Willow as self-controlled, irreverent, seductive, and even “a little bit gay.” (Willow, gay? No, surely not.) In the end though, Willow sees that unleashing her inner nature to this degree would be impossible in the well-defined boundaries of high school. She decides to stay in her role of responsibility to keep from upsetting the balance of her life.

Faith also continues to play a certain role to keep from upsetting the balance, but for entirely different motivations. Whereas Willow is a truly good character, whose alter ego acts evil, Faith is now completely gone to the dark side, but continues to play nice. She reflects the facades so often seen among high school cliques, where ‘friends’ are totally pleasant to one another’s faces, but secretly prepare for back-stabbing at the first opportunity. We see this tendency taken literally by Faith.

In Earshot, Buffy is finally able to see through the pretenses of her classmates and all those around her. This episode, more than many others, gives real credence to the normal issues of high school, were friends and enemies are the monsters faced. Buffy helps Jonathon, the poor bystander picked on one too many times, with the same kindness and understanding as any of the other victims she saves from actual demons. As the gang prepares to leave Sunnydale, these conflicts between inner demons and flesh and dust ones can only serve to complicate future plots. Way to go, Whedon.